The Midnight Game
by Good User
Summary: On a late summer night, a group of eight curious demigods venture out to an old, abandoned mansion to play the Midnight Game. But it's just a game, right? It can't be real, right? Nobody could get hurt... right? They couldn't have been more wrong.
1. Starting the Game

**Author's note in da house.**

**First of all, I want to say that this isn't entirely my idea. Someone on Tumblr posted a fan fiction with Youtubers doing the Midnight Game, which led me to think "Hey that's a pretty cool idea" and google it and then come up with the idea of the Percy Jackson characters doing it. You should google the Midnight Game as well, to see the rules and so the story doesn't sound completely foreign and random. I've added some rules to make it seem more ominous, if you don't mind.**

**I also wanted to mention the fact that it's not the seven, it's the _eight. _I've added Calypso to the seven because I wanted them to be an even number, and because Leo and Calypso are too gosh darn cute to leave out.**

**Lastly, I've tried my best to provide all of the characters with their kind of personality- like, I've tried to make Leo goofy and annoying, I've tried to make Annabeth a smart ass and heroic, and etc. If I haven't met your expectations, by all means tell me, and I'll try to fix them up to how they really are.**

**Constructive criticism welcomed, and please message me if you want me to continue the story. **

**One last thing: DON'T DO THE MIDNIGHT GAME. I have no idea if this thing is real or not, because I'm too much of a wimp, but why take the chance?**

**Author's note outta da house.**

* * *

The shuffling of feet on old, mossy stone. The occasional nervous coughs that was used to mask the fear. The tight squeeze of a hand and the moving of bodies to make the space between each other smaller. These were the only sounds that the group of eight could hear over the think pounding of their hearts.

She, of all people, had no idea why she was nervous. All of them had gone through so much more than this- monsters, demons, even gods. Plus, she was supposed to be the leader. She was supposed to be the brave one, the person who takes control and tells everyone it's going to be alright. But here she was, trailing behind the rest of the group, only tagging along because she would be the only person who didn't if she chickened out.

She took a deep, shaky breath as she began to get a glimpse of the outline of the house. Dark, dilapidated and looking as if it would cave in on them when they walked inside. It was an old house, with a 50's-styled roof and door. But by the looks of it, it hadn't been occupied for centuries. It wasn't any of the eight's house, but Leo had located the old, abandoned house out in the human world. Surrounded by brush and towering trees and only the broken old stone path to help people find their way back to the main road, Leo enthused that it was "perfect for the game".

Leo ran ahead of the group, laughing and whooping. Despite the atmosphere out there, Annabeth had to chuckle. Leo was seventeen, but he acted like a five year old. Calypso trailed off behind him, and she didn't look the least bit scared, or even nervous. Annabeth mentally slapped herself- she'd been in Tartarus, for the god's sake, and she was scared of a mythical creature that could very easily not even be real.

Once they reached the door, Annabeth felt the air around them completely change. It was cold, chilling, and ominous, all at the same time. She grabbed Percy's arm on instinct.

Hazel forced a chuckle from the back of the group. "So, we're really doing this?"

Leo's voice shot back quickly. "Yeah! You all agreed to, so let's just do it and get it over with. Why are you so scared, anyways? It's just a myth. No actual evidence. It can't be true." Annabeth knew he was lying through his teeth.

Hazel gave an exasperated sigh. "I know I said I would, but what's the point? We get a rush of excitement every week! We're demigods, for the god's sake, we've got every monster in the world after us, and now we're going to add the Midnight Man to the list?"

Annabeth shuddered. Just the sound of the name sent chills up and down her spine. Percy put a hand on her shoulder and kissed the side of her forehead, and it comforted her for a second, but then the unfamiliar cold came upon her again and the comfort was gone.

Leo shrugged. "Well, if we've got all the monsters against us already, what's there to lose?"

Calypso piped up. "Our lives? Our sanity?" She seemed confident before, but Annabeth noticed the tremble in her voice.

Leo shrugged. "As long as we follow the instructions, we'll be fine, I promise." He took her hand and then turned to the door once again. Without a moment's hesitation, he kicked the door open and sauntered in. "Hey, Midnight Man! Get ready for Leo El Amigo!"

Once Annabeth got inside, she felt the optimism go out of all of them like air out of a balloon. It was pitch black, so dark that she couldn't see her hand in front of her face, and worst of all completely silent. The silence was deafening- it was like it echoed from the walls, and it was the most unnerving thing she'd ever felt.

Piper checked her watch. "11:56 right now. Four minutes to do what we have to do and..." She took a shaky breath. "And start the game."

They all took a seat on the floor in the middle of the front room and began, and for the first time in her life Annabeth actually felt terrified.

Leo motioned for Annabeth to pass the pieces of paper she'd torn apart, and she handed him the few pens she'd brought along with that. Her hands shook as she passed it to him, and with a brief lock of the eyes she knew he was just as nervous as she was.

"Alright, so everyone writes their name on a piece of paper." Jason said evenly, and grabbed one of the pens and papers to write his name. She wasn't that surprised that he didn't seem fazed by the idea of the Midnight Man, but he's been through much worse.

Leo held out his hand sassily. "Hat, Frank?"

Frank rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, Leo El Stupido." He took the hat off that he'd been wearing and tossed it into Leo's waiting hands. Despite the insult, Leo didn't seem hurt.

After everyone had jotted down their names, Leo gathered them up and emptied them into the hat, and began shuffling them. Annabeth's heart beat so loud she could feel it in her ears, and she only realized how hard she was clutching her boyfriend's arm when he unhooked her hand and drew her into a protective hug.

Leo then took out a single paper. Percy's arms began tightening around her, and that was when she realized he was just as terrified as she was. Leo glanced down at the paper and gulped, then handed it to Piper. "Piper.. I'm sorry, it's your paper."

Piper simply shrugged nonchalantly. She reached over and grabbed the safety pin that lay on the floor and casually pricked her finger, spreadign the blood that seeped out onto the piece of paper. Annabeth's skin prickled at the sight of the blood, and she could've sword the air got even thicker than it was already.

Jason took a deep breath and stood up to help up Piper, and they walked closely together to the door. Annabeth stood up shakily and led the rest of them to the door.

"Leo... I don't know if I want to do this anymore. What if it's real? Our worst nightmare... I don't know if I can do that." Calypso shuddered and shut her eyes tight, and Leo pulled her into a protective hug. He looked into her eyes. "You/re going to be fine, Calypso. I swear on River Styx that I won't let anything happen to you." When he looked up, he looked more serious than Annabeth had ever seen him look in the entirety of their friendship.

Annabeth took a deep breath and stepped forward. "It's 11:58 right now. As soon as one of us finishes knocking on the door, you have to open it, blow out the candle, and close it. Light all of your candles as soon as you do, and we'll split up. Groups of two." She looked into the eyes of all of them, and she cringed at the though of any of them getting hurt. "Remember, don't look back unless it's absolutely mandatory. Don't try to come into contact or threaten the Midnight Man. If he's near, you'll see his shadow and your candle will go out. You have to relight it immediately- no hesitation. And if you don't relight it in the next ten seconds, use the salt shaker to put a circle of salt around you, as quick as you can. Stay in the circle until 3:33, or..." She gulped. "You know what happens. Your partner will have to go on. And all of you... be careful."

After she gave the directions, nobody spoke up. But somebody did step out of the group without hesitation. Her boyfriend.

Percy approached the door with the paper and a lit candle and set the both of them at the foot of the door. Then he raised his arm, shaking. All of the muscles in his arms were straining as he began to knock.

Each slam of his fist on the door made Annabeth's heart jump into her throat. She was so tempted to stop him and bail out on them, but she knew she had to be brave. The door was the worst kind of door to knock on as well- splintered, rickety, looking as if it would fall on the knocker if he pounded hard enough. She winced on each knock, and she clutched her candle and matches so hard her knuckles turned white.

Under his breath, Percy counted the number of knocks.

_Knock._

"Seventeen."

_Knock._

"Eighteen."

_Knock._

"Nineteen."

_Knock._

"Twenty."

_Knock._

"Twenty-one."

A slight pause. A deep breath.

_Knock. _"Twenty-two."

Percy took his shaking hand and opened the door, it creaking on its ancient hinges. Then he bent down and blew out the candle, dousing us all in complete darkness, and closed the door. A thick burst of wind came in as the door closed, chilling them all to the bone, despite the air being completely still and humid outside. Quickly, everybody struck a match and lit their candle.

The sight of everyone's face being shown only be the light of a flickering candle was even more unnerving than the silence.

"Let's go."

And everyone turned away with their partner and walked in different directions, the darkness quickly swallowing each of them individually, one at a time.

* * *

**End of chapter one! **

**Can I just say that writing a story like this while it's night is seriously blood-chilling. Every shadow and reflection I see in my computer is automatically a ghost or a psychopath trying to kill me or possess me.**

**And on that happy note, see ya in the next chapter.**


	2. Time Passing, Nightmares Starting

**Sorry for the few grammar mistakes in the last chapter, I planned on going back and correcting all of them once I'd finished writing it, but I decided to be an idiot and forget. Oh well.**

**Also, I'm going to do some weird layout of the chapters- each one will be in the perspective of multiple characters. For example, I might do one chapter with the perspectives of Leo, Jason, Annabeth and Frank taking turns in one chapter, then Percy, Hazel, Piper and Calypso taking turns in the next. It also won't be in any specific order or length of time- I could do just a few paragraphs in the perspective of Hazel in one part of the chapter then write a book in the perspective of the next character. It's weird, but you'll get the hang of it- hopefully. **

**For the scariest experience in reading this chapter, turn off the lights and bring you and your laptop in front of a mirror. Or, if you're like me and a total wimp, read it in the middle of the day with all the lights on, in your bed as far away from a mirror as possible. **

* * *

Chapter Two

**_Percy's Perspective_**

The palms of Percy's hands started to sweat as soon as he left the rest of them, and he was scared he might drop the candle. At least he had Annabeth.

He glanced at her, and his heart dropped at how she looked. Sweating, pale, and obviously terrified- no different from him, of course, but he didn't want to see her that way. Percy took her hand, and she looked up at him and the two shared a smile. He loved that even in the midst of this real-life horror game, he could take comfort in the presence of Annabeth.

The two of them walked on. He had no idea where he was even going, but noticing the dusty furniture helped him at least tell which room they were in. The clack of their shoes on tiles and what looked like a rusty sink made him believe it was the bathroom. Old and unused for a while, obviously, but still a bathroom. He started to wonder if he could take a bathroom break while he was playing the game, but he doubted it.

Percy was trying to avoid eye contact with the mirror, but he couldn't help himself. One glance at it made his heart stop. Cracked, dusty, and so ancient you could hardly see your reflection in it. But he could see one thing was definitely there- the silhouette of a man, _standing right behind them._ He pursed his lips and tried to keep himself from screaming and ditching Annabeth, but it was nearly impossible. He clutched Annabeth's hand, tight, and walked as fast as he could to the next room.

"He was right there." He whispered once they had gotten a couple of rooms away from there. His heart was still racing from the encounter, but his candle hadn't gone out. Maybe it was just his own shadow?

Annabeth took deep, short breaths. "I don't want to do this anymore. I'm scared, Percy." She got closer to Percy and gripped his arm so hard he felt like she might break his skin.

Percy wanted to agree, but he knew it was too late to stop. They couldn't stop playing the game once they started it. So instead he tightened his grip on her hand and continued to walk on, trying not to hyperventilate.

_**Calypso's Perspective**_

The atmosphere had gotten so much worse since she and Leo left the rest of their friends. She felt like no matter where she went, she was constantly being watched. And having that feeling of needing to look around everywhere to reassure yourself while knowing you can't look behind you is the most nerve-racking thing ever. Worst of all, even having Leo with her wasn't enough to calm her nerves.

The two of them hadn't been together for long- a couple of months. Neither of them were skilled in romance, since both of them hardly had any experience with dating, so they'd decided to take it slow. She wished that she could be casual and comfortable with going on dates with him, like Percy and Annabeth, but she knew they weren't that close yet.

Come to think of it, she hardly even knew Leo. She knew his backstory, of his times in orphanages and his life on the run. But one thing she was never able to pull out of him was _how_ he was orphaned. Of course, she knew that he wouldn't want to tell the world of how his mom died. But she couldn't help but feel hurt that he'd tell Jason and Piper but not his own girlfriend. Calypso had the sudden urge to bring it up, but then decided against it. Not here, not now- maybe in a fully lit room with just the two of them, chatting and watching a Disney movie.

She peered around them, taking extra attention to not look behind. They seemed to be in a hallway- an awfully big one, at that. The floor was marble and the roof was held up by dozens of pillars. She wondered why it looked so strange, but she supposed it just could've been some thing back in the day. How could she know? She was stranded on that wretched island for _centuries._

Leo's voice piped up out of the darkness. "I'm sorry we have to do this. I shouldn't have forced everyone out here."

Calypso's blood ran cold. Leo never stepped out of anything so fast- it's only been twenty minutes and he was already having regrets about coming. "Stop, Leo. We're gonna get through this fine. All of us." She had no idea why she was the one assuring him, but she felt like she should. If Leo was breaking his constantly optimistic attitude, then someone would have to keep it up.

But the confidence she forced into her voice was quickly drowned out by the fear. Calypso couldn't help _but _be terrified. Every shadow illuminated from their flickering candles made her heart stop, every step of their feet echoing from the ground was enough to make her faint, every time she blinked she felt like something was right behind her eyelids, just waiting for her to fall into a nightmare.

Neither of them tried to make conversation, which wasn't usual. Leo was the talkative one- the person who always kept the mood up and kept his head high. But tonight was different.

They couldn't fight the Midnight Man.

They couldn't fight away their troubles this time.

All they could do was hope that they didn't have to face it.

Suddenly, the sound of wind blowing through an open window whispered into her ears, and Calypso almost froze in her tracks. But Leo pulled her on, and she was grateful. If you stop, _he _finds you.

But refusing to stop didn't prevent the wind from extinguishing her candle. Calypso muffled her shout and fumbled for a match, counting in her head the seconds.

Five seconds up already.

She wrenched a match out of the box and had to try three times before the flickering fire erupted from the stick, and she quickly lit her candle.

Nine seconds.

Three hours, seven matches, and a road full of nightmares to go.

_**Piper's Perspective**_

Automatically, Piper knew they'd gone in the worst direction. She was _always_ unlucky- she'd always lost the coin toss, the rock-paper-scissors, the bets on money. But this time must've been when her luck completely ran out.

Less then ten feet, they came to their first decision- _stairs._ They could either go upstairs, continue straight, or go downstairs. And seeing as how this was a one-story house, it was either the attic, the basement, or in a thin, cobwebbed hallway that seemed to go on forever. Piper clutched Jason's hand and her breaths were short and uneven. "Where should we go?"

Jason paused. Piper didn't like putting the pressure on him, but he was the best at being the leader between the two of them. The only thing Piper could really do was convince people- and she didn't expect the Midnight Man to be easily convinced.

"I don't know, honestly. What do you think would be the least terrifying choice?" He asked, trying to keep his voice calm and collected. But Piper had known Jason for a long time. She knew when he was terrified, humiliated, confused, in love. And she knew that, right now, he was next to completely and utterly terrified.

She glanced at him, saw his face illuminated only by the candle. His startling blue eyes were full of helplessness, something she'd never thought Jason was even capable of. So Piper took a deep breath and took charge. "Let's go in the hallway."

And so they went.

Once again, Piper quickly realized they'd gone in the wrong direction. The hallway was winding, completely dark, with no rooms. There wasn't even any furniture. It was simply cold and white and endless. She knew that they couldn't turn back, but what if the hallway didn't have an end? Would they just have to blow out the candle, make the salt circle, and wait there, tired and terrified, for the next three hours? She pushed the thought to the back of her mind and continued on, trying to keep her breath steady, which was nearly impossible.

As they continued to force themselves on, Piper's feet started to ache. She wished that they could stop and take a break, but she knew it wasn't allowed. She tried to get her mind off her fatigue, but she came started thinking about something much worse.

_What if they were caught? What was her worst nightmare?_

Piper's breath became more heavy when the questions started to plague her. She didn't _want_ to think about it- she'd promised herself she would get through this with Jason, safe and unharmed. But when you make all the wrong choices, when will you get the wrong ending?

Slowly but surely, Piper started to realize that the hallway was getting smaller. She raised her eyebrows in confusion, and exchanged glances with Jason. What kind of a house was this?

She could feel her heart quickening. She wasn't claustraphobic, but having the feeling of walls closing in on you and knowing that you can't turn back in a never-ending hallway was blood chilling. The hallway had gotten so tight in a matter of minutes that the space between her and Jason had to close, almost completely.

On instinct, she halted her boyfriend with her hand. "How long does this hallway go for?" With a shaking hand, she raised her candle ahead of her, just to light up the ground a couple of feet ahead of her. She'd prepped herself to see the Midnight Man waiting just in front of them, but what she saw was surprisingly exactly what she was looking for.

A door.

A small door, at that, but still a door.

Piper approached the door first, because the hallway was too small now to go side-by-side. The door was the same as the front door, old and looking like just a knock on the door would break it over.

She reached for the handle, anticipating the worst when she opened it, but was stopped short by a blood-curdling scream _coming from inside the door._ Piper stepped back, but he was backing up as well, so she ended up falling on her back and having the breath knocked out of her as the gut-wrenching scream continued to ring out.

The worst part was that the scream was familiar- it sounded just like Hazel. But all of them had gone in opposite directions, so how could they have gotten there?

Piper clenched her boyfriend's arm as he pulled her up frantically. She was almost ready to take off in the other direction, but she had enough sense to get herself up to her feet and steady the candle before facing the door once again. The scream had multiplied by then, and it was so loud that Piper and Jason had to cover their ears or else they would have been deaf.

Piper knew how tempted Jason must have been to get out his sword and burst in the room, but she knew they couldn't do that. The only option was to enter the room with the horrible screaming, or go back in the winding, nightmarish hallway- which was hardly even allowed in the game.

Piper's head pounded from the screaming now, it was ear-splitting- all she wanted was for it to _stop _so she could think straight. Finally, Jason stepped in front of her and pounded on the door, despite everything inside of Piper screaming for him to not, and surprisingly the screaming stopped. All that they could hear was a distant ringing in their ears, left over from the screams.

Jason took a shaky breath. "What do we do now?"

Piper wished desperately to be side-by-side with her boyfriend now, outside of this house, holding hands with him, kissing. She wanted to be on that hill they always sneaked out to go to when it was night and watch the stars together. She wanted to be with her dad, eating lunch with him and watching TV with him. She would even take being back at that old school, when everyone rejected her and it was just her, Leo and Jason against the world. Anything would be better than living in this nightmare.

But she closed her eyes and opened them, and saw that she was in the exact place that she didn't want to be in. The place that she would take anything over.

She and Jason were in danger, and she couldn't save either of them.

* * *

**Sorry for the long chapter- I'd originally decided to put four of the perspectives in each chapter, but then I realized it was too long already with just three, so this'll have to do.**

**Thanks for all the good reviews and comments :) I'll try to get the chapters done quickly.**


	3. Unwrapping Terrors

**Alright, I've decided to just do one perspective for each chapter. Sorry for all the switching around, but it would let me get the chapters out faster and keep me from rushing.**

**Enjoy the next chapter!  
**

* * *

**_Frank's Perspective_**

It's really aggravating to have your girlfriend be more courageous than yourself. Well, it could've just been the fact that Hazel was better at hiding her fear, but who knew? All Frank knew was that this was a bad idea from the start.

Honestly, anything that involves blood, your worst nightmare, and some weird Midnight Man couldn't have been smart to mess with.

But here they were, wandering around in a dark, abandoned house, being stalked by what could cause their worst nightmares.

Frank shivered, but not from the cold. They hadn't seen anything in the twenty minutes that they've been roaming around, but that didn't stop Frank from being thoroughly terrified. Goosebumps ran up and down along his arms and legs, and his breaths were shallow and loud. It didn't help that he couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him, either. He could easily run into an endless hole, or a wall, or the Midnight Man himself.

He broke into a sweat at the very thought of the name, and walked closer to Hazel, but he ended up bumping into her. She turned to him as they walked on, and the sight of her confident and smiling face gave Frank a sense of optimism. To him, just looking at his girlfriend was enough to make him smile. And that's saying a lot, considering the fact that they could possibly die in here.

Frank closed his eyes. He wished he weren't here, that they could just be back at Camp Half-Blood. But at the very least, he could act like they were. He took Hazel's hand and they shared a smile.

"So, are you scared?" Hazel asked, raising her eyebrows.

Frank gave a nervous laugh. "No, no." He snorted. "The Midnight Man isn't even real! It's stupid that we're doing this."

Hazel laughed as well, but Frank could tell it was forced. He looked at her, and she could see in her eyes that sense of doubt, and he knew exactly what she was thinking. And not surprisingly, it was exactly what he was thinking.

What if the Midnight Man was real, and they really _were_ walking into their worst nightmare?

He hated the thought of Hazel (or him, for that matter) ever having to go through something like that, if it was real. He couldn't imagine what Hazel's worst nightmare was. She'd seen her mom die, she'd died earlier and been brought back to life by her brother, and she's been in countless situations that were worse than the last. What could her mind possibly dream up that was more horrific than that?

Frank shook the thought from his mind. For now, all they had to think about was playing the game until 3:33.

But as the time wore on, nothing jumped out at them, nothing tried to kill him- they were simply walking. They passed through multiple doorways, but each room looked the same as the next. Frank decided to try to be like Annabeth, and be logical. They were in an old, abandoned house. It was a one-story mansion. So how big could this mansion even be?

His mind wandered to a story Percy and Annabeth told him about, the Labyrinth. He'd never been in it, and he used to think that the idea was cool. But now he realized that it was probably just like wandering around this unending house. You'd have no idea what's around the next corner, what's in the next room, when you'll find the exit, or if you even will. You would just walk around, helpless, hopeless, having this sense of fear but not even knowing why.

After a few more minutes of walking, they finally came across something different, but not anything they were expecting. Frank squinted his eyes and lit up the path on the ground with the candle. The wooden floor was covered with dust, but there were _footsteps._ Fresh ones, at that.

Frank's mouth went dry, despite him trying to convince himself it couldn't have been real. "It might just be our own. We could've looped back around accidentaly, came across our own footsteps." But he knew it wasn't possible. The footsteps seemed to have literally _materialized_ out of nowhere. They were in the middle of a huge room, and the tracks appeared exactly in front of them.

They stayed in a stunned silence for a while, but Hazel finally broke it. "Sh-should we follow it?" She raised her candle and waved it around about them, trying to get a sense of the room. But it was just the same as the others, completely dark, floorboards missing, no furniture at all. Nothing special.

Frank's heart tried to leap out of his mouth, but he did his best to keep his breathing calm and his voice calmer. "Uh, I don't know." His voice came out as a squeak, and Hazel looked at him strangely. Frank blushed and coughed out his fear. "Yeah. Yeah, we should." It came out an octave lower than usual, but he'd take it.

Hazel took a deep breath and nodded, clutching Frank's hand, and he was surprised to see that it was as sweaty as his. She rose her candle with a shaking hand and they started to walk. But this time, they knew where they were going.

The footsteps didn't have any particular pattern. The first time, it went straight. The next, it went right. Frank's throat closed at the thought of what could lie at the end of the trail, but he brushed the thought away. Better to unwrap the terrors when he actually finds it. He looked down at Hazel's hand, entwined in his, and smiled in spite of himself. At least he wasn't alone here.

Eventually, the steps started to fade out. Frank's brow furrowed. _How can footsteps... fade?_ But little by little, the footsteps became covered by more and more dust until they completely disappeared. He was so busy focused on the footsteps that he didn't even bother to look up, but what he saw surprised him._  
_

A door.

It was nothing ominous like he'd expected. He'd thought they would run into the Midnight Man, or a wall, or a skeleton or something. But a door? Not so much. It was the same as the front door, old and rotting wood. It was one of the doors that could lock from one side, and it looked like they were at the side that it could be locked or unlocked.

But Hazel presented a whole new worry to him, which he didn't appreciate. "What do you think it's trying to keep out?" She wondered aloud.

Frank's heart pressed into his throat. "It doesn't have to be keeping anything out." He said hopefully, but who knew?

Suddenly, Frank felt a breeze pass across the both of their shoulders and, to his horror, _his candle went out._

He fumbled for the matches out of his pocket clumsily, breathing hard and low. He could see Hazel had lit up her candle in less than five seconds, and his heart raced, sweat made him drop several matches.

Seven seconds already.

He dragged a match across the lighter and lit his candle.

Just in time.

Frank took deep breaths, coughing and heart about to jump out of his chest. Hazel was breathing just as hard as he was, if not harder. He grabbed her hand, not wanting to let go of her ever again.

"We're okay." Hazel said through deep breaths. She looked up at him, and the two smiled, and Frank fell in love with her all over again.

But the optomism wasn't long-lasting. As soon as they turned around, they saw a shadowy figure, standing right behind them. If it had eyes, it would be _staring_ at them. All of Frank's hair raised on end, and he had to keep himself from squeaking, but he couldn't help himself from digging his fingernails into Hazel's hand. It was about their height, not even moving. It was just _there._ It was the Midnight Man.

And Hazel screamed.


End file.
